Hudson Mills Monster Course
I remember when this course first went in. Allow me to set the stage.. I was a casual player for about eight years and never played another course other than Hudson Mills. When the Monster went it someone in our group as a joke would usually always throw out the option to play it. "Monsters? You kidding me? hell no. Let's throw regs." was the typical response.
So now that I've improved as a player I do appreciate the Monster course as well as Hudson Mill ... continue reading ›

Hudson Mills Monster Course
I remember when this course first went in. Allow me to set the stage.. I was a casual player for about eight years and never played another course other than Hudson Mills. When the Monster went it someone in our group as a joke would usually always throw out the option to play it. "Monsters? You kidding me? hell no. Let's throw regs." was the typical response.

So now that I've improved as a player I do appreciate the Monster course as well as Hudson Mills as a complete disc golf facility. See for having played nowhere else for about 8 years I really thought that the mills was typical of all courses. Little did I know that it is leading the way and is better in every way than most facilities out there.

$2 to play for a day which is a deal and $50 for the year pass which gets you into Kensington as well.

So the Monster course.. yaas..

Pros
-24 holes with a long and short tee on every hole. 5 holes have a long (championship) pin.
A rant on the champion pins, if I may.. Nobody plays them! I say make it a B pin placement then remove (yes, remove) one basket, forcing people to play to whichever position is in. Right now it is too overgrown on most holes to be fun to play to the long baskets.
-Fun design with many different shot lines required. Long tees is a dificult course with even par being roughly a scratch round.
-Extra holes (A-F) are like a course onto themselves, very tough.
-Where else can you play 96 unique holes of disc golf (106 if you include the permutation on the champ pins)..
-Amenities like benches, bathrooms, water, concessions, trash cans (that get emptied on a regular basis) are all there.
-The park staff is friendly, just remember to buy your day pass..
-Courses are usually not crowded, ever since they instituted pay to play

Cons
-Mostly flat land
-Daily Pass enforcement.. let's just say it can be inconsistent depending on who is working. The best guy out there (the older skinny guy with glasses) is great to deal with, and he was my biology teacher in high school (you da man, Jaws).
-Some of trees and bushes have been growing and influencing the line of play, especially from the long tees on the monster course. It usually is cleaned up for DGLO but if you play in the spring before DGLO then be aware.‹ less text

The course could use a little pruning from the Black tees perspective, it's okay from the Yellow tees in that regard. Other than that, the Black tees generally demand accurate tee shots and is a good test of anyone's game.

Bring your A game and then some! Hudson Mills disc golf complex is what disc golf courses should support to look like! Well manicured clean no littering. You have two 24 hole courses with the best tee pads and every hole having an alternate tee pad to play, either Pro or Advanced players. There are also alternate pin placements and to boot there are baskets that permanently reside in the alt locations! They have are great facility that provides food and drink as well as a clean restroom in the main building! They have many out houses for you to use while out on the course.

This is my favorite course! Hudson Mills is what a disc golf course is support to look like! Well manicured clean no littering. You have two 24 hole courses with the best tee pads and every hole having an alternate tee pad to play, either Pro or Advanced players. There are also alternate pin placements and to boot there are baskets that permanently reside in the alt locations! They have are great facility that provides food and drink as well as a clean restroom in the main building! They have many out houses for you to use while out on the course.

It had been awhile since playing this course and I realized that this is definately one of my favourites. Even from the shorts it offers plenty of challenge and of course having plenty of chances for the deuce. Even more is just the look and growth of the course. It is maintained in an excellent condition. If anyone still questions the meager 2 dollars to play this course, sorry. Shhhh don't let this out I'd pay 3!

This course rocks! I have played it many times so its my home court so i had to give it a A instead of A+ as i initially did b/c i love it dearly but want to leave a bit of expectation room for hoping to discover new paradises. tho that is exactly what The Monter is...ALL Powerful, scary, mean, and big Monster course.

This course Is great! It has so much variety with a mixture of thick wooded tunnel types, open fields/meadows, Large Hilly openly wooded Areas, to the cooler swamp where water will rise and fall with the seasons making the bridge's helpful. The beginning and the End wholes are longer and make sure you learn to start and finish Strong and Straight on Course. The practice hole is super cool too. its an open 'from one peak to the other crossing and beyond' that goes slightly right. Enjoy

this course was fun and a long walk, the holes were fair and fun to play we played the short course i think the long would have been to hard as it had a lot of tee shots that were a tonel effect the course was spread out and had to walk 3/4 mile back to the next 18 we were going to do! couse was kept very good would not pay to play this couse again but putting the two courses together i would.

the monster doesnt really live up to its name. what because of hole 14's 1038 ft hole? my first time playing this i thought it would mirror the toboggan course with the name monster but as soon as i played holes 1-6 i realized sadly it was going to be the same. the average hole is 363 ft which is reachable by most people who have been playing for a few years and the shorts average about 276 ft. that being said i still think its a great challenging course with alot of technical shots required to shoot under par.

First time out at Hudson Mills. This place was great! Had a blast. Monster course has some great layouts. Love some of the tight fairways, they didn't love me, but all around, I enjoyed myself. Stony may be my home course, but this is way better taken care of, better groomed and love the up keep on the greens. Only reason why it doens't get an A+ is the lack of ChainStars. Otherwise, fabulous.

Original course was a lot of fun! had an Ace run that spiked @ feet from the basket on a sidearm shot! Really like the layout, and the course let e get good use out of my hyzer flips. A very well maintained course. Again, with ChainStars, we'd be looking at an A+

This is really an "A" course, only giving a minus for some very minor details. The first is the cost - $5/car to enter the park plus $2/day or $50/annually to play disc golf. I don't disagree with pay-to-play, but some might. They also did keep the course open to casuals during tournament play. Otherwise this course is incredible. There are some great tournaments out here, and I actually had a bit more trouble (playing from the short tees) with the original course over the Monster course. ... continue reading ›

This is really an "A" course, only giving a minus for some very minor details. The first is the cost - $5/car to enter the park plus $2/day or $50/annually to play disc golf. I don't disagree with pay-to-play, but some might. They also did keep the course open to casuals during tournament play. Otherwise this course is incredible. There are some great tournaments out here, and I actually had a bit more trouble (playing from the short tees) with the original course over the Monster course. It could have been that it was a long day, and after the 24-hole Monster course, I was getting tired. Lots of open shots, lots of great holes for myself (right handed, sidearm thrower), and also lots of technical shots. ‹ less text

This is really an "A+" course, only giving an "A" for some very minor details. The first is the cost - $5/car to enter the park plus $2/day or $50/annually to play disc golf. I don't disagree with pay-to-play, but some might. They also did keep the course open to casuals during tournament play. Otherwise this course is incredible. There are some great tournaments out here ("No Foolin'" and "Thrills at the Mills"). The 1038 foot Monster hole is a great challenge, highly recommended course.

Absolutely loved this course at DGLO 2012. Some extremely challenging holes (#18, the island hole, I lost a disc and took a triple circle 8). Long holes, short holes, plenty of OB, woods, it's got it all. The staff did a great job providing water, marking the holes and the OB, and keeping it cleaned up. Too bad it's a temporary course, lots of fun.

love the course, i leave my A+ for my favorite course of flip city.
But nothing in michigan is better then hudson although there are other A level courses.
complaining about Pay 2 Play (P2P) is horrible as the alternative would probably be no course at all. The lack of P2P would probably mean no course. Parks like the economy are suffering, and the intake of P2P fees does not even cover the cost of maintaining (mowing) the course.
Think about your P2P fees as a way to scare the cheap and va ... continue reading ›

love the course, i leave my A+ for my favorite course of flip city.
But nothing in michigan is better then hudson although there are other A level courses.
complaining about Pay 2 Play (P2P) is horrible as the alternative would probably be no course at all. The lack of P2P would probably mean no course. Parks like the economy are suffering, and the intake of P2P fees does not even cover the cost of maintaining (mowing) the course.
Think about your P2P fees as a way to scare the cheap and vandals away from a fantastic course and go play the crappy courses elsewhere in SE michigan. Washtenaw county has 12 courses and you have choices, this course is a must play.
Hudson, Independence lake, rolling hills and lakeshore are the best course in county.
Its a park and poison ivy is like there like air i would think. ‹ less text

love the course, i leave my A+ for my favorite course of flip city.
But nothing in michigan is better then hudson although there are other A level courses.
complaining about Pay 2 Play (P2P) is horrible as the alternative would probably be no course at all. The lack of P2P would probably mean no course. Parks like the economy are suffering, and the intake of P2P fees does not even cover the cost of maintaining (mowing) the course.
Think about your P2P fees as a way to scare the cheap and va ... continue reading ›

love the course, i leave my A+ for my favorite course of flip city.
But nothing in michigan is better then hudson although there are other A level courses.
complaining about Pay 2 Play (P2P) is horrible as the alternative would probably be no course at all. The lack of P2P would probably mean no course. Parks like the economy are suffering, and the intake of P2P fees does not even cover the cost of maintaining (mowing) the course.
Think about your P2P fees as a way to scare the cheap and vandals away from a fantastic course and go play the crappy courses elsewhere in SE michigan. Washtenaw county has 12 courses and you have choices, this course is a must play.
Hudson, Independence lake, rolling hills and lakeshore are the best course in county.
Its a park and poison ivy is like there like air i would think. ‹ less text

love the course, i leave my A+ for my favorite course of flip city.
But nothing in michigan is better then hudson although there are other A level courses.
complaining about Pay 2 Play (P2P) is horrible as the alternative would probably be no course at all. The lack of P2P would probably mean no course. Parks like the economy are suffering, and the intake of P2P fees does not even cover the cost of maintaining (mowing) the course.
Think about your P2P fees as a way to scare the cheap and va ... continue reading ›

love the course, i leave my A+ for my favorite course of flip city.
But nothing in michigan is better then hudson although there are other A level courses.
complaining about Pay 2 Play (P2P) is horrible as the alternative would probably be no course at all. The lack of P2P would probably mean no course. Parks like the economy are suffering, and the intake of P2P fees does not even cover the cost of maintaining (mowing) the course.
Think about your P2P fees as a way to scare the cheap and vandals away from a fantastic course and go play the crappy courses elsewhere in SE michigan. Washtenaw county has 12 courses and you have choices, this course is a must play.
Hudson, Independence lake, rolling hills and lakeshore are the best course in county.
Its a park and poison ivy is like there like air i would think.
This course would be better with concrete tees but with the fact it is a temp course that will never happen, unless hudson decides to make it permanent. ‹ less text

Awesome course, great challenges. Was the very first time I have ever played at this course. Many times at original course, just never played the monster. Had a decent round for my first time so it didn't scare me off for my fir run. Will play this course many times..
only CON I found was some of the holes could have used better signage pointing out some of the next tees

The short of it: monster drives, incredibly difficult champ baskets along with am baskets, and every shot type in the book make this a fun but difficult course. Big arms and players looking to hone their skills will love it. The average player will likely find it a bit big, but with enough fun shots to bring them back.
The long of it:
THE GOOD - this course seems to have a few strong characteristics. Trees, distance, and interesting pin placements. A few of the holes here are my favorite ... continue reading ›

The short of it: monster drives, incredibly difficult champ baskets along with am baskets, and every shot type in the book make this a fun but difficult course. Big arms and players looking to hone their skills will love it. The average player will likely find it a bit big, but with enough fun shots to bring them back.

The long of it:

THE GOOD - this course seems to have a few strong characteristics. Trees, distance, and interesting pin placements. A few of the holes here are my favorites. This includes the letter holes, which by themselves are worth playing. A nice mix of lefty, righty, deep drives with and without trees, a couple massive holes (even from the am tees), plus crazy fun shots like #15 and #18 keep this course interesting and dynamic. Not as many challenging any/forehand shots like say Kensington, but with the added challenge of the champ baskets if you dare to play them it makes for one of the toughest challenges in SE Michigan IMO. The letter holes as a whole provide one of my favorite spots of any disc golfing around. Shaded, lots of tables, deer, and some fun shots combine for a middle-portion of your round that always puts a smile on my face.

THE BAD - Hazards are deep in summer, but with the recent slash n crash on Black Olive it is safe to say the fringe and deep areas of rough will be fairly negotiable on most of the holes. Of course we stay clear of the rough when we can, right?! lol But for those who shank this course can be a technical nightmare. Very few water holes, with the most notable of the few being #18, which plays like an S across a stream and next to a pond that is usually filled and replete with branches galore. There are some wooded holes with a fair amount of trees, saplings, and smaller bushes, particularly in the 8-14 and letter hole parts of the course. Plenty holes have larger trees in play, many with trees right off the tee. Overall there are only a few truly open holes here, so bring some precision. Think Willow blended with Indy.

THINGS TO NOTE- This course tends to be a bit buggy, but seemingly less than the sister course across the way. As noted there is not much in the way of water on most of this course, which is always good for a reduced skeeter round in the summer months. Gets sunny and a fair bit of this course has you in the open. Be ready to catch shade where you can get it. The letter holes offer some of the best chances for that. Great clubhouse and the occasional park staff cruise-by.

FAVORITE PART - hole #5 and #6 are essentially ace opps and easy birds from Am and Long tees. If you have a couple tough shots over the first few holes it is a good spot to gain a couple strokes. But that isn't the best part. As you walk off 5 to the long tees on 6 there is a bench and so much shade and isolation that it serves as a perfect spot to take in the surroundings and really get in to the round.

This course is in stark contrast to Monster. Plenty of duece opportunities here. This course is a lot more perfected (in my opinion) than Monster. The fairways are clear and removed of the bad brush, there are many shot varieties, and there are gnarly hole designs. My only beef would be that they could have used a little more variety distance wise, but other than that, the original course does everything right.

I love the double tee and basket courses. This one did a great job. Monster is a true championship caliber course with an amazing challenge. While the shorts looked fun and fine, I played the black - black layout. Honestly, some of the holes are unreasonable. There is a difference between difficult, and just downright unreasonable. The alternates are some of the most unforgiving holes ever. The brush is also quite thick and often filled with thorns, unlike the original. This course makes the park complete, and offers one of the greatest challenges to anybody's game.

Great course, playing both this and the original in the same day may have seemed daunting in the morning but we disced for 6 hours and i was still ready for more afterwards, course flow was awesome as each hole left me wanting more.

A monster for sure has lots to offer players of all levels. Beautiful landscapes just about everything except the wait was perfect. Glad I live close to this gem cause I be honing the skills there this season. Lots of great players good park for family excursions. Need the play the original course or the camp course still just haven't been able to not play the monster. Can't say enough cause I think it's a awesome place to get D-golf in. Thanks for all the rounds looking forward to getting back.

The Original course is amazing. it has a good mix of woods and open fairways. There are two pond holes that I really like and it has a couple ripper holes as well. The park and A3 disc take pretty good care of it. I would have to say this is my third favorirte course

The Monster course is a little harder than the original course, with the tighter fairways and longer holes it makes you work for every shot. But don't worry there not all ripper holes. I would say there's about six easy deuce holes. But all and all this is an amazing course as well.

I totally love this experience. Living in Lancaster , Ohio , I play this course once a year . This is what good golf is ! Great balance of shots, slight elevations open/wooded .... "Professional". Must play .

Good clean fun. Well manicured short and medium technicals, my girlfriend even had a blast. Great course for amateur players to see what technicality is without destroying their pride. Will be back soon!

2 course 1 fee that's awesome I played 42 holes in 3 hours didn't get a chance to check out the extras on monster it looked tighter and not as much fun but original extras are top notch. Side note monster hole eats disc.

Well maintained 18-24 hole course with long and short cement tees and a full set of baskets. The baskets could use an update but still functional enough to do their disc catching job. A great course flow and large amount of land allows for a large amount of golfers without feeling too crowded. Optional letter hole loop is a nice bonus if you want to do 24 holes. Strictly a DG course so no worries about other park goers in your way. Just a rock solid experience playing at the Mills.

Similar to my Original review, the Monster is another 18-24 hole course located right next to the Original. Hard to beat two 24 hole courses that are built strictly for disc golf. The Monster also has two sets of cement tees and full set of baskets, even a few extras for those brave souls who want an even tougher challenge. Very scenic course and of course the Monster hole, a 1,000+ foot hole. The Monster is my favorite if I had to choose, but you can't go wrong no matter which course you play. Disc Golf done right!

The short of it: one of the best courses around not because of its challenge, but because it is well maintained, full of shot variety, plenty of ace runs, and home to some awesome wildlife. A personal favorite, even after the recent landscaping overhaul (removal of invasive Black Olive) it is still one of the better places to play in SE Michigan.
The long of it:
THE GOOD - Hole variety is at the forefront here. I feel like the average arm to a seasoned pro will find enough challenge here ... continue reading ›

The short of it: one of the best courses around not because of its challenge, but because it is well maintained, full of shot variety, plenty of ace runs, and home to some awesome wildlife. A personal favorite, even after the recent landscaping overhaul (removal of invasive Black Olive) it is still one of the better places to play in SE Michigan.

The long of it:

THE GOOD - Hole variety is at the forefront here. I feel like the average arm to a seasoned pro will find enough challenge here to enjoy all the beauty and well-managed course features. Am holes are of moderate distance, and very drivable for good arms. Pro tees are just far back enough to entertain all but the biggest arms. Baskets are in some great spots on a few holes, like #7 and #8. Course really has a nice character because of the fun basket placements, and some tight, but not overly technical hole setup. In fact I consider this to be one of the more open courses around that still have a nice amount of trees. In other words its not as open as Indy or Ponds, but this place has a ton of great benches and picnic tables for shade in the summer. Overall conditions here are generally great. Can get muddy, but is better on average than a lot of other SE courses, particularly in spring. Lots of ACE runs, plenty of birdie opps, and some really picturesque holes, coupled with awesome wild life like heron and deer, make this a must visit IMO.

THE BAD - as I have gotten better I find this course to be far less challenging for me from the front tees. Backs are a bit harder, but plenty of the pro tees sit less than 50 ft (despite signage saying they are further. Its a bit funny on a few holes). The removal of black olive trees and other foliage this fall seems to have impacted the course a bit on visual beauty. But perhaps more notably is that it removed a lot of the isolation you felt. You now have clear visibility to the track/path, fields, as well as less rough (although for me most of my shots have remained 80% the same). Not much bad to say beyond those few gripes.

THINGS TO NOTE - lots of leagues here and it being a top 10 course means it will get pretty hopping at times. Play early, or prepare to wait. The course seems to play ok with crowds, but you will find much more space across the lot on Monster if you prefer to play continuously. Can get muddy in spots, and there is water on a few holes. Most notably water can play on holes #12 and 13. The proximity to the river and the water spots make for some buggy rounds, and in deep summer can get to about a 7/10 on the skeet scale. Bring spray.

FAVORITE PART(S) - great practice basket. Has a field for tossing as well. But hole wise the course starts to get interesting after the letter holes on #5-7. Great elevation changes, and some of the best chill spots of any course on #5 and #7 pro tees. ‹ less text

You have to pay to get in and play so make a day of it, it's worth it. I played the shorts. Course gives to a lot of different tee shots so its dose not get boring. The are some open holes, some shorter holes though the trees, and most with thick brush lining the fairway. Challenging but plenty of holes that could be duced.

Similar feel to the Original course but I felt more slightly more challenging because seem to be more places to get into trouble. The monster hole is long even from the shorts, 650 I think, but not to bad if you have a decent tee shot, def a par 4. Play them both in one day and you will get just about every shot other than major hill or throwing across water. Maybe the cleanest, well kept park I have ever been in.

Love it! Been my home course for about 3 years. Great selection of holes. Great layout. Great maintanence on the course always looks nice. Always meet great people out here just about every time I go out.

Love it! Been my home course for about 3 years. Great selection of holes. Great layout. Great maintanence on the course always looks nice. Always meet great people out here just about every time I go out.

Now that my shoulder is serviceable and I have more experience, I need to update my review of HM/Original.
This is a fine course due to the variety of holes and shots needed. I think it gives a great first impression for anyone new to the course or the game itself. On top of that, Hudson Mills is a great Metropark for many other activities. I still spend the majority of my time at HM for special occasions, the walk-bike path, and just to chill out.
My big concern playing here is the thick ... continue reading ›

Now that my shoulder is serviceable and I have more experience, I need to update my review of HM/Original.

This is a fine course due to the variety of holes and shots needed. I think it gives a great first impression for anyone new to the course or the game itself. On top of that, Hudson Mills is a great Metropark for many other activities. I still spend the majority of my time at HM for special occasions, the walk-bike path, and just to chill out.

My big concern playing here is the thick brush you find at some of the holes will add to lengthy search times. I've lost more discs on HM Original than on any other course.The lesson is make sure you keep all shots on the fairway! On a minor note, it seems to be more buggy than I remember. ‹ less text

This Monster course is growing on me. I'm enjoying this course more than the Original.
So far, I've played all the short tees and both the regular and champion baskets. So far, it seems that straighter shots are favored more here than on Original. Thankfully I find it much easier to find discs on Monster than on the Original. This is the big advantage over the Original.
The only thing I can think of to improve Monster is just a little fine-tuning. The maps are adequate, but I'd like to see ... continue reading ›

This Monster course is growing on me. I'm enjoying this course more than the Original.

So far, I've played all the short tees and both the regular and champion baskets. So far, it seems that straighter shots are favored more here than on Original. Thankfully I find it much easier to find discs on Monster than on the Original. This is the big advantage over the Original.

The only thing I can think of to improve Monster is just a little fine-tuning. The maps are adequate, but I'd like to see a few signs added. If only to accommodate those new to the course, I'd like to see more visible signs just after holes 6 , 10, and 16. Overall, I'm having a good time on HM/Monster. ‹ less text

Out of the ~60 courses I've played in Michigan, this is far and away the best. There are courses like Kensington, The Gulch, Burchfield, and Fallasburg. Any one of these is well worth a USDG championship; but The Monster trumps them all.

It's long and nasty; but not overly punishing. A strong am3 can throw par, but a pro will probably only throw -12. This course dares you to throw for a birdie, but only rewards pars.

Spend a day at Hudson. Warm up on the regular, and finish with The Monster. If I could give an A+++ I would.

After seeing all the great reviews on this site and others, I figured I had to play it since I live less then an hour away. I was really looking forward about playing the course but I was very disappointed. It's nothing special. There are plenty of much better courses in southern Michigan. Its not a bad course at all, but IMO its really overrated.

A long course so pace yourself. Decent mix of open / wooded and short / long holes. The alphabet holes add a lot to the course so I would definitely suggest hitting those if you have time. As with most courses, it gets tougher as the summer goes on. The rough can get pretty rough. Fee / car.

Nice course, could definitely use more in the way of directing golfers to the next tee pad, especially when crossing the road. Had a tough time finding 16. Found 17 before 16, so we had to back track. Have someone with course experience join you, otherwise you might get confused crossing the street.

With never having been there, I was superbly impressed with the conditions and difficulty. Some better maps at or near the tees could make it better, but going with someone who has played before is really all you need.

nice enough courses but not being maintained by the park it seems. they charge us $2 to play and mow the grass and dump the trash. oh and a porta potty on the original course. as i understand it the local club does the actual maintenance mostly.

They have torn this course up stumps and sticks everywhere, the course is in rough shape they have done a bang up job opening fairways and removing any chance of it being hard shot to the baskets ams should love this!
Also increase their fees to $3!!!!
Really do they need another dollar now that there are 4 other new courses down the road now they are picking our pockets yet no other group using the park pays a recreational fee... how is this fair the whole park is free to use outside of dis ... continue reading ›

They have torn this course up stumps and sticks everywhere, the course is in rough shape they have done a bang up job opening fairways and removing any chance of it being hard shot to the baskets ams should love this!

Also increase their fees to $3!!!!
Really do they need another dollar now that there are 4 other new courses down the road now they are picking our pockets yet no other group using the park pays a recreational fee... how is this fair the whole park is free to use outside of disc golf. Now they are upping their fee over what the state normal of $1/2 fee to now the highest cost course to play.